Meet Team Toyota

Here are the athletes who, with Toyota’s help, hope to compete next summer in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

August 26, 2019

In less than a year, Tokyo will be the center of the athletic universe when it hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games. But it’s not too early to begin getting acquainted with the Team Toyota athletes who are training now in hopes of earning on a spot on Team USA.

To give you a running start, here are the men and women whose dreams of going for the gold — with an assist from Toyota, the Worldwide Mobility Partner for the Games — just might come true.

In 2014, Willoughby won the USA BMX Women’s Pro Series title, the same year her mother passed away from late stage melanoma. She went on to win her eighth-consecutive USA Cycling National Championship at the Gator Nationals in 2018.

Willoughby also founded the annual Alise Post MS Race for a Cure at her home track in Minnesota to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis.

Willoughby and her husband, Sam Willoughby, were chronicled in the documentary “Every Pedal with You”, which recounts their relationship during the 2014 season.

Paralympic Games Rio 2016, gold (50m free, 100m free, 400m free), silver (100m back) and broke a World Record in the 200m free that previously stood for more than thirty years

On September 7, 2011, Snyder’s life changed after he stepped on an improvised explosive device while serving in the U.S. Navy. The accident did not harm his arms or legs, however, his eyes were removed and replaced with prosthetics. One year later, Snyder returned to the pool and went on to claim gold in the men’s S11 400m freestyle event at the Paralympic Games London 2012. After competing in his second Paralympic Games in Rio 2016, Snyder decided to transition to paratriathlon.

World record holder for the 100m fly, 4x100m mixed free relay, and 4x100m free relay

Dressel graduated from the University of Florida where he won nine NCAA championships races.

Not only is Dressel considered to have the best start “off the block” in history, but he also became the first swimmer to win eight medals at a single World Championships in 2019.

Dressel carries a blue and black bandana for good luck to the blocks for every competition. The bandana was worn by a former teacher, Claire McCool, who passed away from cancer and who Dressel considered his life coach.

Homer was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and, at age five, moved to New York with his mother, Juliette Smith, and sister. He began fencing at 11 years old after reading about it in the dictionary. Since then, Homer has overcome many obstacles to become the top fencer in the United States, including being homeless with his family for many years. He uses these harsh memories to help motivate him to become the best athlete he can be.

Homer serves as a brand ambassador for Fencing in the Schools with the goal of introducing fencing to children all over America. He would someday like to start a nonprofit of his own.

Boudia decided at just 7-years old that he would be a U.S. Olympian while watching the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. Since then, Boudia has gone on to accomplish his ultimate goal – winning an Olympic gold medal - at London 2012.

In 2015, he became the first American man since Greg Louganis (1978-1986) to medal on the 10m platform at three consecutive World Championships.

In 2016, Boudia wrote and released his first book, “Greater than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption.”

Brown was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease at 15 months old, resulting in Glaucoma that ultimately took his sight by the age of 13.

Brown first realized his dream of being a U.S. Paralympian after winning an essay contest to attend the Paralympic Games Beijing 2008. Since then, he earned a spot on the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Paralympic Teams. Together, with his sighted guide, Jerome Avery, Brown has gone on to become the first totally blind athlete to run under 11 seconds when he clocked 10.92 in 2014.

Jerome Avery has been a guide runner with U.S. Paralympics since 2004 and has guided David Brown, one of the world’s top visually-impaired sprinters, since 2014. Bound by a tether, Brown and Avery sprint in lanes side-by-side, communicating by touch and sound with every synched stride as Avery tugs the tether to keep Brown in line to reach the finish line.

Brown and Avery call themselves Team BrAvery as Brown carries the motto of “Running4HISGlory+".

At 18-years old, Wallace was and diagnosed with Compartment Syndrome, eventually having his leg amputated.

Within 12 weeks of his amputation, Wallace had his first running blade and just 16 months after his amputation, he won his first major international gold medal and set a world-leading time at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Wallace has competed in two Paralympic Games, set four world records and become a three-time World Championship gold medalist.

Originally from Siberia, Jessica Long was adopted at 13 months old from a Russian orphanage and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with her parents, Steve and Beth, and five siblings. Long was born with fibular hemimelia and did not have fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in her feet. At 18 months old, her legs were amputated below the knees so she could be fitted for prosthetic legs and learn how to walk.

She joined her first competitive swim team at 10 years old. Just two years later, she competed in the Paralympic Games Athens 2004.

Throughout her career, Long has several accolades to her name including, three ESPYs for “Best Female Athlete with a Disability” (2007, 2012, 2013) and named to Sports Illustrated’s list of “The World’s Best Female Athletes.”

In 2016, Barratt made history at the US Open of Surfing where she became the first female to compete as a pro in both US Open skate and surf in the same year.

In 2017, Barratt was the first female to qualify and compete in the Dew Tour Park Am event.

This year, Barratt continues to compete in the Vans Park Series where she placed second in Montréal. In March, Barratt was also named as one of 16 athletes to earn a spot on the inaugural U.S.A. Skateboarding Team. She is currently training for the debut of skateboarding in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Peterson was nicknamed “Lakey Surf Legend” at the age of five and, by 11 years old, was surfing competitively.

In 2011, Peterson competed as a wildcard in her first World Tour event, the U.S. Open of Surfing, where she placed runner-up. She went on to win every event in the North American Junior Pro Series that same year, securing an official spot on the 2012 World Surf League Women’s Championship Tour.

Peterson was featured in the Nike 6.0 women's surf film "Leave A Message" and her first feature length film, "Zero to 100", which chronicled her professional and personal journey and premiered in 2013.

Hernandez began gymnastics in 2005 and considers the floor exercise to be her favorite event.

In 2016, Hernandez was the only first-year senior-level gymnast to be selected to the U.S. Olympic Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team. That year, she also became the first U.S.-born Hispanic to compete in gymnastics at the Olympic Games in more than 30 years when she participated in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, her first major international meet.

At 16 years old, Hernandez became the youngest celebrity to win “Dancing with the Stars” and she later co-hosted “American Ninja Warrior Junior”.

Outside of competition, Hernandez has authored two books including the New York Times best-seller, “I Got This: To Gold and Beyond” and “She’s Got This”, released in 2018.

In 2002, Stockwell graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army as part of the Transportation Corps. On March 2004, she deployed with the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad, Iraq.

In early 2004 she became the first woman to lose a limb in active combat. She was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for her service to the United States.

Four years later, Stockwell became the first Iraq War veteran to participate in the Paralympic Games Beijing 2008. She competed in swimming and was selected to carry the U.S. flag in the Closing Ceremony.

After Beijing, Stockwell transitioned to triathlon. She competed in the sport when it made its debut at the Paralympic Games Rio 2016 and won bronze in a Team USA podium sweep.

Current world leader in the 400m at 43.45 seconds - tied for the sixth-fastest performance in history

As a high school senior, Norman defeated reigning USA champion, Justin Gatlin, in the 200m semifinals at the 2016 Olympic Trials. He eventually placed fifth in the final and did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team. However, Norman went on to secure two gold medals at the World Junior Championships that summer, highlighted by a championship record of 20.17 seconds in 200m.

Norman graduated from the University of Southern California in May 2019. There, Norman set collegiate records in every NCAA final he ran in 2018, including his world record in the indoor 400m and an unofficial world record in the indoor 4x400m relay when he anchored the USC Trojans to a winning time of 3:00.77.

Born in the Ukraine, Oksana Masters came to the United States at 7- years old.

After suffering from her disability as a newborn as a result of birth defects from radiation poisoning from the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster, Masters was fitted with her first prosthetic leg above the knee at eight years old.

In advance of the Paralympic Games London 2012, Masters participated in the 2012 ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue and, later that year, was named U.S. Rowing’s Female Athlete of the Year. She has also been nominated for an ESPY award six consecutive years (2014-19) in the “Best Female Athlete with a Disability” category.

Nicknamed “Swimone,” Manuel is the first African American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming. She is also the only woman to win seven medals in a single world championships, a feat accomplished at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea.

Manuel attended Stanford University where she still holds five swimming records. She also currently holds the American Record for the individual 100m free and all three relays – 4x100m free, 4x200m free and 4x100m medley.

At 11 months old, Serio had surgery to remove a spinal tumor, which resulted in the compression of his spinal cord. Consequently, he was left paralyzed and is classified as an incomplete paraplegic.

In 2010, Serio graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a degree in Exercise Physiology and began playing professionally in Germany for RSV Lahn Dill. While in Germany, he helped capture four German titles and two European Champions Cup titles.

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